Brazil heading to a rare sequence of increasing coffee crop output

Subject: Geography

Section: Eco Geography

Context:

Brazil is anticipated to mark its third consecutive year of increased coffee production, a rare achievement in its 144-year coffee history. This trend, mainly fueled by a boost in robusta bean production, is expected to continue into 2025.

Details:

This sequence of annual production increases has been infrequent, occurring only seven times previously.
Brazil, traditionally known for arabica beans favoured by premium coffee shops, is seeing robust growth in robusta production, commonly used in instant coffee.
Normally, arabica coffee production fluctuates annually, but recent extreme weather events, including droughts and frosts around 2020 and 2021, disrupted this cycle.
Post-frost recovery strategies, such as pruning and the increased use of irrigation, especially in robusta cultivation, have contributed to the continuous production growth.
The rising trend in robusta output is expected to sustain Brazil’s overall coffee productiongrowth, bypassing the arabica biennial cycle.
This ongoing increase in production signifies Brazil’s adaptability and growing dominance in the global coffee market, with robusta beans playing a pivotal role.

Coffee production in India:

Coffee production in India is dominated in the hill tracts of South Indian states, with Karnataka accounting for 71% (Kodagu alone produces 33% of India’s coffee), followed by Kerala with 21% and Tamil Nadu (5% of overall production with 8,200 tonnes).
Indian coffee is said to be the finest coffee grown in the shade rather than in direct sunlight anywhere in the world.
Almost 80% of Indian coffee is exported.

Coffea arabica:

A species of flowering plant in the coffee and madder family Rubiaceae.
Believed to be the first species of coffee to have been cultivated and is currently the dominant cultivar, representing about 60% of global production.
Coffee produced from the less acidic, more bitter, and more highly caffeinated robusta bean (C. canephora) makes up most of the remaining coffee production.
Endemic to the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia,Coffea arabica is today grown in dozens of countries between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer.
The natural populations of Coffea arabica are restricted to the forests of South Ethiopia and Yemen.

Coffea canephora (or robusta coffee):

A species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae.
A species of coffee plant that has its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa.
Coffea canephorahas two main varieties- robusta and nganda.
Grows indigenously in Western and Central Africa from Liberia to Tanzania and south to Angola.

Difference between Robusta and Arabica coffee:

Beans from C. robusta tend to have lower acidity, more bitterness, and a more woody and less fruity flavour compared to C. arabica beans.
A greater crop yield than that of arabica,
Contains more caffeine (2.7% compared to arabica’s 1.5%),
contains less sugar (3—7% compared to arabica’s 6—9%).
As it is less susceptible to pests and disease, robusta needs much less herbicide and pesticide than arabica.

Source: TH